Monday, September 29, 2014

I've missed blogging! And now that we have a good, working computer again I am ready to dive back in. (But not from where I left off because that would be overwhelming - a feeling I am not a fan of.) One of these days I'll get to work on Noah's baby book and perhaps post a few pages from that, but for now I'll pick up where that will leave off... at my little man's FIRST BIRTHDAY! It was only six months ago, but it feels like a lifetime and in just this short few months he has grown way too much. I can't believe these pictures! I'm trying to whittle down to just a few favorites, but that is turning out to be impossible, so here are a bunch of my sweet, funny, little man.

And now for the highlight of the photo shoot. Because Noah's birthday is right around Easter time I thought it would be cute to have a few shots of him wearing his fuzzy bunny ears (thank you Target dollar aisle) that he fell in love with on our last trip to the store. I mentioned this to the photographer and she started laughing and was delighted to inform me that the studio actually had a live rabbit upstairs to use in photo shoots this time of year. Of course I got all excited and immediately began envisioning all of the sweet photos I would have of Noah happily snuggling up with a real live bunny. Well... here is what we got instead!

Confusion

Fear

Panic

Escape

Crocodile tears

And finally relief after his narrow escape from the terrifying rabbit I put in his path!

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

At the beginning of February last year (like nine weeks before my due date mind you) Cameron came to me and said "I think we should look in to building a house." On our radar at the time? Nope! Crazy? Yes! Odd timing? Absolutely! But for some reason it just felt right and within a few weeks we not only had chosen the neighborhood (it wasn't hard - it was kind of the perfect place), but put down a deposit on the lot and sent the ball rolling. We spent an entire day in the design studio just a week before Noah was born, and attended the meeting with our builder to sign contracts when he was just six days old. I still can't believe we made all of those big decisions, and dealt with all the craziness, AND added a new baby into the mix all at the same time. My biggest regret is that we didn't use a realtor, but all in all things went pretty smoothly.
By the beginning of summer we had a hole in the ground and from there everything went in fast forward right up until we closed and moved in the second week of September. It was so fun to see it all take shape! (And since the lot was just five or so minutes up the road from our current home it ended up being an evening summer tradition to go check out the progress and hang out at the park - yes, the PARK! - right behind our future backyard.)
Anyway - here it is! The Evolution of Our House!

Our lot! We LOVE how much space is between the houses and having the neighborhood playground right out our back gate!

Digging the hole

Pouring the foundation

This is the back view that looks out on the park, and beyond that an unobstructed view of the valley, the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and the Wasatch Mountains. The two large windows are the family room, then there's the back door, and the kitchen window.

Front view that looks out on Herriman farm land and beyond that the Oquirrh Mountains. Caleb is standing in his bedroom window on the left, Cameron and Noah are in one of the two bonus/playroom windows, and Olivia is in her window on the right.

In love with the long, covered front porch!

Yay for the exterior! This was our biggest sticking point in the decision process and really the only thing we had to compromise on. I wanted a more neutral color pallet and a really colorful front door (that could be changed as often as I fell in love with a new color.) Cameron loved the bright colored exteriors throughout the rest of the neighborhood. Hence this "neutral" light green color.

Cameron's first order of business after moving in was a tree. (And there will be many more to come!)

We've been in the house now for a little over six months and I can honestly say I wouldn't change a thing about when/how we did it, the floor plan we picked or the design choices we made. It has been the perfect home for our little family, and in a neighborhood and area that we love. We are fortunate to be able to stay in the same elementary school and still be super close to our wonderful friends in our previous neighborhood, all while making new ones here. To sum up - I am feeling so blessed and am NEVER MOVING AGAIN!

Our Family

About Us

Cameron and I met in the summer of 2000, began dating the summer of 2001, and married in the Bountiful, Utah LDS temple in January of 2002. Twelve years, lots of schooling, two states, seven moves, two houses, three children, and many adventures later, here we are as busy as ever, juggling and loving (most of) every minute of it.